36 Organizations Urge Election Assistance Commission to Rescind Restrictive Changes to Voter Registration Forms

WASHINGTON – A coalition of thirty-six civil rights, voting rights, and disability rights groups has sent a letter to Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Executive Director Brian Newby urging him to immediately rescind his letters to chief election officers in Kansas, Georgia, and Alabama, which permitted them to add a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. The groups say that these changes are unlawful and contrary to agency procedures, and would put the right to vote at risk for people in these three states.

Permitting any state to require documentation of citizenship runs afoul of current EAC policy, judicial precedent, and governing law. As the letter states, “it is important to remember, moreover, that the National Registration Act, through which this federal form was created, aims to increase the number of eligible voters and enhance their participation in our elections.”

These restrictive changes have the potential to cause confusion and disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters. Given the upcoming presidential primaries, this issue is of utmost urgency, and the groups are urging Executive Director Newby to withdraw his action immediately.

The letter and its list of signers is copied below.

Click here for a PDF of the letter.  

February 11, 2016

Dear Director Newby:

The undersigned are a collection of good-government, disability rights, civil rights, and voting rights groups that work to protect the right of every eligible American to vote.  We write now urging you to immediately withdraw your letters addressed to the chief elections officers in Kansas, Georgia, and Alabama permitting changes to the federal voter registration form and to ensure that the instructions on the form reflect governing law and policy prohibiting the requirement of documentary proof-of-citizenship with the form.

Such changes – which unlawfully permit a handful of states to require documentary proof of citizenship in addition to the sworn attestation under penalty of perjury – run afoul of present Election Assistance Commission (EAC) policy and procedure and are inconsistent with recent court cases.  The EAC has previously addressed this very matter and declined to make the change on documentary proof that you recently authorized.  EAC Vice-Chair Thomas Hicks, one of the Commissioners to whom you report, has deemed your recent communication a “unilateral” move amounting to a “material” change.   Any material change must be adopted by a quorum of the Commissioners after notice and public comment, as required by the Administrative Procedures Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the National Voter Registration Act.  That has not occurred here.

While we recognize that you have caused the agency to take final action and revise the federal voter registration form, it is not too late to withdraw that action. We urge you to immediately withdraw the decision and letters sent to the states of Kansas, Georgia, and Alabama, as they were improper and contrary to agency procedures, policy, and governing law.  The potential for confusion and disenfranchisement of eligible voters is also at issue, especially considering the upcoming presidential primaries.  Such a change to the federal voter registration form would impact tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of voters who seek to register to vote in these three states.  Its impact would be particularly significant throughout this presidential election year, which often prompts eligible voters to register in greater numbers.  It is important to remember, moreover, that the National Voter Registration Act, through which this federal form was created, aims to increase the number of eligible voters and enhance their participation in our elections.

For several years, the EAC was without Commissioners and thus not fully functioning.  During that time period, states went without the advice and counsel that this Commission has provided since its creation.  As we approach the 2016 presidential election, a mere nine months away, states and voters alike will increasingly come to rely on the tools, counsel, and guidelines the EAC has been tasked with dispensing.  A fully-functioning EAC – operating according to regulation – remains vital to ensuring that the right to vote for all eligible Americans is not compromised and that elections run efficiently and fairly.  The renewed operation of the EAC according to protocol and law safeguards the integrity of this agency’s function.

We strongly urge you to withdraw your recent approval of documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirements as part of the federal voter registration form.

We thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Advancement Project

AFL-CIO

African American Ministers In Action

America Votes

Anti-Defamation League

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC

Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)

Campaign Legal Center

Center for Popular Democracy

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Common Cause

Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Democracy 21

Dēmos

Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN)

Friends of the Earth

Georgia Common Cause

Imani Group, Inc.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

National LGBTQ Tasks Force

NAACP

NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF)

NAACP National Voter Fund

NALEO Educational Fund

National Council on Disability (NCIL)

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

New Georgia Project

Open Democracy Project of Louisiana @ CCMG

Public Citizen

Union for Reform Judaism

U.S. Student Association

Voices for Progress

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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